Black cod, Anoplopoma fimbria. (Photo Credit: Interseafisheries)

Alaska black cod fishery completes 2nd annual audit for RFM certification

The Alaska black cod/sablefish fishery has completed the 2nd Annual Audit of the Responsible Fisheries Management (RFM) Certification. The objective of the audit is to monitor any changes since the previous assessment. No non-conformances were issued or are active for this fishery.

The Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute (AMI) requested assessment of the Alaska sablefish (black-cod) commercial fisheries to the FAO Based Responsible Fisheries Management (RFM) Certification Programme. The application was made in April 2010. Assessment commenced in April 2010 with assessment validation before proceeding to full assessment and final certification determination in October 2011.
 
This report is the Second Surveillance Report (ref: AK/SAB/001.2/2013) for the Alaska sablefish federal and state commercial fisheries following Certification award against the FAO-Based RFM Programme, awarded on 11 October, 2011. The objective of the Surveillance Report is to monitor for any changes/updates (after 12 months) in the management regime, regulations and their implementation since the previous assessment; in this case the first Surveillance Report completed in November 2012. The Report determines whether these changes and current practices remain consistent with the overall scorings of the fishery allocated during initial certification.
 
In addition to this, corrective action plans resulting from non-conformances in the previous assessments are reassessed and a new conclusion on consistency of these items with the Conformance Criteria is given accordingly. Also, any areas reported as “items for surveillance”, although not defined as formal non conformances, are explored as areas which could potentially cause a change (lower or higher) in the score of a given clause.
 
The certification covers the Alaskan sablefish (Anoplopoma fimbria) commercial fishery employing demersal longline, pot and trawl gear within Alaska jurisdiction (200 nautical miles EEZ) under federal [National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS)/North Pacific Fishery Management Council (NPFMC)] and state [Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADFG) & Board of Fisheries (BOF)] management.
 
The surveillance assessment was conducted according to the Global Trust Certification ISO 65 accredited procedures for FAO – Based Responsible Fisheries Management Certification using the FAO – Based RFM Conformance Criteria V1.2 fundamental clauses as the assessment framework.
 
The assessment was conducted by a team of Global Trust appointed assessors.

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